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XIII Reunión del Foro Científico sobre la pesca española en el Mediterráneo, 20-21 de septiembre de 2022, La Ràpita.-- 5 pages, 3 figures, La pesquería de cerco española del Mediterráneo se encuentra ante un doble reto ecológico y socioeconómico. [...]

XIII Reunión del Foro Científico sobre la pesca española en el Mediterráneo, 20-21 de septiembre de 2022, La Ràpita.-- 6 pages, 2 figures, El mar Mediterráneo contiene entre el 7 y el 10 % de la biodiversidad marina del planeta y sostiene una actividad pesquera importante tanto a nivel social como económico. [...]

The socio-cultural, economic, and environmental conditions of the world are changing rapidly and recreational fisheries will have to adapt to the uncertain future. Key research areas include assessing the sustainability of recreational fishing in response to climate change, ongoing biodiversity decline and changing social values. In this context, technological advances and digitalization can play a major role in advancing recreational fisheries. We evaluated the contributions of research that was presented at the 9th World Recreational Fishing Conference relative to 100 key research questions identified for recreational fisheries in 2020. Given that the 9th WRFC happened in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we additionally synthesise impacts of COVID-19 on recreational fisheries. We found that the majority of contributions focused on resource monitoring and catch and release, while less attention was dedicated to governance, management-stock and habitat enhancement, and threats to sustainability. Rapid technological advances represent both a challenge (e.g., difficulty in management response), but also an opportunity for recreational fisheries (e.g., hyper connectivity of digital platforms for communication). Science is helping recreational fisheries to adapt and remain resilient to rapid social and environmental uncertainties, but this knowledge must be incorporated into governance structures and resource allocation strategies to ensure effective implementation.

11 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables.-- Data Availability Statement: The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation, Marine recreational spearfishing is practiced by a small proportion of recreational fishers and ecological, social and economic aspects of such activities are poorly understood with respect to recreational angling. The Italian Federation of Sport Fishing and Underwater Activities (FIPSAS) started in 2009 the collection of catch data related to Italian spearfishing tournaments. Here, we provide the first snapshot of this catch data regarding 48 tournaments organized in 29 different Italian localities from 2009 to 2020. We also developed a survey to collect social and economic information that has been administrated to participants to the tournaments. We retrieved 8843 specimens caught by spearfishers, which accounted for 33 species and a total biomass of 5665 kg (mean individual mass ± standard error; 0.64 ± 0.01 kg). The five most frequently species represented 78% of the specimens caught (white seabream, Diplodus sargus 48%; brown wrasse, Labrus merula 12%; brown meagre, Sciaena umbra 9%, green wrasse, Labrus viridis 5%; salema, Sarpa salpa 4%). The overall catch per unit effort for all the tournaments was 0.47 ± 0.01 kg/spearfisher/h, and we showed interesting effects of type of tournaments and type of displacement on it. We also assessed the accuracy of participants to catch fish in accordance to tournaments-specific minimum weight limits. The five most caught species showed that spearfishers committed errors around 50 g below the weight limit. The survey showed that spearfishers participating to tournaments are trophy-fish oriented (i.e., they would rather catch one or two big fish than ten smaller fish), but not particularly catch oriented (i.e., they are just as happy if they do not shoot the fish they see and a fishing trip can be successful even if no fish are caught). Regarding the motives for fishing, they fish for experiencing adventure, excitement and new and different things as well as to be underwater. Participants spent from 2 to 26 days in the tournament locations (median equal to 7 days), which implies a total expenditure to solely participate to the tournaments ranging from 800 to 3500 Euros (mean ± standard deviation; 1800 ± 591 euros). This study represents the first ecological, social and economic baseline knowledge for an integrative management of contemporary spearfishing tournaments, Funds provided by Centro Ricerche ed Infrastrutture Avanzate in Calabria (CRIMAC), founded by FSC 2014-2020 - Piano Stralcio "Ricerca e Innovazione 2015 - 2017" - Programma Nazionale Infrastrutture di Ricerca (PNIR), linea d'azione 1. Cofinanziamento Infrastrutture di Ricerca (IR). [...] VS is supported by a “Juan de la Cierva Incorporación” research fellowship (IJC2018-035389-I) granted by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. VS also acknowledges the Spanish government through the “Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence” accreditation to ICM-CSIC (#CEX2019-000928-S)

17 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables, supplementary material https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.837216/full#supplementary-material, Behavioral rhythms are a key aspect of species fitness, since optimize ecological activities of animals in response to a constantly changing environment. Cabled observatories enable researchers to collect long-term biological and environmental data in real-time, providing relevant information on coastal fishes’ ecological niches and their temporal regulation (i.e., phenology). In this framework, the platform OBSEA (an EMSO Testing-Site in the NW coastal Mediterranean) was used to monitor the 24-h and seasonal occurrence of an ecologically iconic (i.e., top-predator) coastal fish species, the common dentex (Dentex dentex). By coupling image acquisition with oceanographic and meteorological data collection at a high-frequency (30 min), we compiled 8-years’ time-series of fish counts, showing daytime peaks by waveform analysis. Peaks of occurrence followed the photophase limits as an indication of photoperiodic regulation of behavior. At the same time, we evidenced a seasonal trend of counts variations under the form of significant major and minor increases in August and May, respectively. A progressive multiannual trend of counts increase was also evidenced in agreement with the NW Mediterranean expansion of the species. In GLM and GAM modeling, counts not only showed significant correlation with solar irradiance but also with water temperature and wind speed, providing hints on the species reaction to projected climate change scenarios. Grouping behavior was reported mostly at daytime. Results were discussed assuming a possible link between count patterns and behavioral activity, which may influence video observations at different temporal scales, MF was supported by an FPI pre-doctoral research fellowship (ref. PRE2018-083839). This work was developed in the framework of the Research Unit Tecnoterra (ICM-CSIC/UPC) and the following project activities: RESBIO (TEC2017-87861-R; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades), JERICO-S3: (Horizon 2020; Grant Agreement no. 871153). This work used the EGI infrastructure with the dedicated support of INFN - CATANIA - STACK. [...] With the institutional support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S)

3 pages, 2 figures, [EN] Our oceans are essential for life on Earth, but they are seriously threatened by the cumulative effects of anthropogenic pressures, including habitat loss, climate change, invasive alien species, pollution and unsustainable harvesting (IPBES 2019). The unprecedented ongoing marine biodiversity crisis may have profound effects on ecosystem services and human well-being. […], [ES] Los océanos son esenciales para la vida en la Tierra, pero están seriamente amenazados por los efectos acumulativos de las presiones antropogénicas, incluida la pérdida de hábitat, el cambio climático, las especies exóticas invasoras, la contaminación y la extracción de recursos no sostenible (IPBES 2019). La crisis de la biodiversidad marina actual no tiene precedentes y puede tener efectos profundos en los servicios ecosistémicos y el bienestar humano. […], [CAT] Els oceans són essencials per a la vida al planeta, però estan seriosament amenaçats pels efectes acumulatius de les pressions antropogèniques, incloses la pèrdua d’hàbitat, el canvi climàtic, les espècies exòtiques invasores, la contaminació i la recol·lecció no sostenible (IPBES 2019). La crisi de la biodiversitat marina en curs i sense precedents pot tenir efectes profunds sobre els serveis ecosistèmics i el benestar humà. […]

3 pages, 1 figure, [EN] The ocean and its biodiversity shape the characteristics of the Earth. The ocean dictates our climate, represents a large part of our food supply, plays an essential role in the global economy and supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems. The ocean and humans are deeply interconnected. However, our knowledge of this important ecosystem is relatively limited: it is estimated that less than 5% of it has been explored, and, as a result, there could be about one million species unknown to science (Ocean Literacy Network 2020). There is an urgent need to increase our knowledge of the oceans at a faster rate. Citizen science and participatory monitoring systems are part of the critical strategies for reducing these knowledge gaps. […], [ES] El océano dicta nuestro clima, representa una gran parte de nuestro suministro de alimentos, juega un papel esencial en la economía global y sustenta una gran diversidad de vida y ecosistemas. Sin embargo, nuestro conocimiento sobre este ecosistema es limitado; se estima que se ha explorado menos del 5% y, como resultado, podría haber alrededor de 1 millón de especies desconocidas para la ciencia (Ocean Literacy Network 2020). Existe una necesidad urgente de aumentar nuestro conocimiento de los océanos a un ritmo más rápido. La ciencia ciudadana y los sistemas de monitoreo participativo son parte de las estrategias claves para reducir estas brechas de conocimiento. […], [CAT] L’oceà dicta el nostre clima, representa una gran part del nostre subministrament d’aliments, juga un paper essencial en l’ecologia global i acull una gran diversitat de vida i ecosistemes. No obstant això, el nostre coneixement sobre aquest ecosistema és relativament limitat; s’estima que s’ha explorat menys del 5% i, com a resultat, podria haver-hi al voltant d’1 milió d’espècies desconegudes per a la ciència (Ocean Literacy Network 2020). Hi ha una necessitat urgent d’augmentar el nostre coneixement dels oceans a un ritme més ràpid. La ciència ciutadana i els sistemes de monitoratge participatiu són part de les estratègies claus per reduir aquestes escletxes de coneixement. […]

Spearfishing is practiced by a small fraction of younger recreational fishers and has received considerably less scientific attention than angling. This knowledge gap may negatively affect the ability for developing sustainable marine recreational fisheries. We address this through a global systematic review of the literature pertaining to marine spearfishing (both recreational and otherwise) and providing an integrative overview of key research topics of ecological, social, and economic dimensions. The systematic review indicated an increasing number of papers related to marine recreational spearfishing, with the majority exclusively focused on ecological impacts of spearfishing. The integrative review identifies the most relevant ecological impacts and possible strategies to minimize them to develop sustainable marine recreational spearfishing. Marine recreational spearfishing fosters connection with the underwater environment, but more research on the social aspects is needed. Results also show a growing research interest in assessing the economic contribution of marine recreational spearfishing. Finally, we argue that recreational spearfishers represent a widespread network of underwater observers whose extensive knowledge may help to identify and track changes in marine ecosystems. Overall, we highlight key points to consider when conducting multi- and interdisciplinary research regarding marine recreational spearfishing.

In late 2019, an outbreak caused by a novel coronavirus started in China (Graham and Baric, 2020; Hu et al., 2020; Maxmen, 2021). A global pandemic was declared in March 2020, as COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus (World Health Organization, 2020b), escalated outside China (World Health Organization, 2020a). In mid-2021, when vaccination campaigns began to show positive effects on the control of the disease in several countries (Kaur and Gupta, 2020), the COVID-19 pandemic caused millions of deaths and hundreds of millions of infections (Dong et al., 2020). To fight the pandemic, governments reacted with measures designed to contain the spread of the virus, especially through measures aimed to reduce social interactions, including lockdowns (Wilder-Smith and Freedman, 2020), travel restrictions (Chinazzi et al., 2020), and limiting people’s access to non-essential activities (Storr et al., 2021). Humanity suffered a notable impact as a result of the pandemic, including losses of jobs and an abrupt disruption in global demand of goods and services (Barua, 2020; McKibbin and Fernando, 2020; Nicola et al., 2020). The pandemic further degraded the quality of life of the most vulnerable people, particularly those with mental health problems (Brooks et al., 2020), victims of domestic violence (Usher et al., 2020), children (Singh et al., 2020), or indigenous populations (Lane, 2020). As a result, an increase in economic inequality and worldwide poverty is expected, especially in developing countries (World Bank, 2020), and a peak in the suicide rate (Kawohl and Nordt, 2020). On the other hand, global reduction of human activities has had some positive effects on the global environment, especially for air and water quality (Rutz et al., 2020), and noise reduction (Zambrano-Monserrate et al., 2020). Marine ecosystems for example experienced less impacts derived from commercial fishing due to disruptions in large markets such as the United States (White et al., 2021a) or the European Union (Prellezo and Carvahlo, 2020; Coll et al., 2021). info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

3 pages, 1 table We highlight important steps that researchers should follow when using social media data, in particular when the aim of their research is to characterize illegal fishing. Specifically, we provide a checklist of mitigation strategies focusing on data privacy concerns and ethical principles associated with human-subject research. We hope our reflections will contribute to a more responsible use of social media and other digital platforms among marine conservation scientists We acknowledge the constructive feedback of two anonymous reviewers. VS is supported by a “Juan de la Cierva Incorporación” research fellowship (IJC2018-035389-I) granted by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. VS also acknowledge the Spanish government through the “Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence” accreditation to ICM-CSIC (#CEX2019-000928-S). RAC is supported by funds from the University of Helsinki through a personal grant to EDM. EDM thanks the European Research Council for funding under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (grant agreement #802933)

We show that marine recreational spearfishers voluntarily organize bottom-up conservation actions. The main goals of these actions are to provide support to research in monitoring fish assemblages, tracking biological invasions or mitigating impacts on the environment, such as those stemming from pollution and littering. We show that such initiatives started more than 20 years ago and are now facilitated by social media networking. We argue that the emergence of bottom-up conservation actions in marine recreational spearfishers should be encouraged, supported and integrated into participatory management plans. This is important to mitigate the potential negative impacts of marine recreational spearfishing and to catalyse broader civil actions for conservation of marine ecosystems., Los pescadores submarinos recreativos organizan voluntariamente acciones “bottom-up” de conservación del medio ambiente. Los principales objetivos de estas acciones son apoyar a la investigación en el monitoreo de los ecosistemas marinos, detectar especies invasoras o mitigar los impactos sobre el medio ambiente, como los derivados de la contaminación y la basura. Tales iniciativas comenzaron hace más de 20 años y hoy en día podrían ser facilitadas por las redes sociales. El desarrollo de acciones de conservación “bottom-up” en los pescadores submarinos recreativos deben ser alentadas, apoyadas e integradas en los planes de manejo participativo. Esto es importante para mitigar los potenciales impactos negativos de la pesca submarina recreativa y para catalizar acciones civiles más amplias para la conservación de los ecosistemas marinos.

Essay The ongoing digital revolution in the age of big data is opening new research opportunities. Culturomics and iEcology, two emerging research areas based on the analysis of online data resources, can provide novel scientific insights and inform conservation and management efforts. To date, culturomics and iEcology have been applied primarily in the terrestrial realm. Here, we advocate for expanding such applications to the aquatic realm by providing a brief overview of these new approaches and outlining key areas in which culturomics and iEcology are likely to have the highest impact, including the management of protected areas; fisheries; flagship species identification; detection and distribution of threatened, rare, and alien species; assessment of ecosystem status and anthropogenic impacts; and social impact assessment. When deployed in the right context with awareness of potential biases, culturomics and iEcology are ripe for rapid development as low-cost research approaches based on data available from digital sources, with increasingly diverse applications for aquatic ecosystems info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Meeting on social media and environmental monitoring Using Social Media as a Data Source for Environmental Science, 7 December 2020

Many fisheries around the globe preferentially capture large individuals with implications for the evolution of exploited populations. Fisheries-induced evolution may alter collective behavioral phenotypes through individual-level adaptations that affect boldness, swimming speed and tendency to follow social vs. environmental cues. Studying the behavioural mechanisms that give rise to possible changes in shoaling and other collective outputs is challenging in the wild, but first insights into whether intensive and size-selective harvesting could alter collective phenotypes and shoaling can be gathered through experiment of size-selective harvesting conducted in the laboratory. We present a multi-generation harvest selection experiment with zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) as a model species and demonstrate that large size-selective harvesting typical of global fisheries decreases risk-taking behavior of individuals, and surprisingly also decreases shoal cohesion. This counter-intuitive effect at the collective level is mechanistically caused by risk-averse individuals favored under large size-selective harvest paying more attention to environmental instead of social cues. Agent-based model simulations further reveal that fisheries-induced evolution of shoaling behavior is adaptive under fishing scenarios by decreasing exploitation rate. By contrast, the same collective behavior favored by size-selective harvesting is maladaptive in the presence of natural predation and increases natural mortality. The evolutionary adaptations we document may slowly, but steadily erode the natural fitness benefits offered by shoaling in many species targeted by global fisheries. Erosion of shoal cohesion can also negatively affect catchability with consequences for human well-being.

Marine recreational fishers accumulate a vast amount of Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) during their fishing activity that can be of paramount importance for monitoring how climate change affects the structure of biological communities. Here, we accessed the LEK of recreational anglers and recreational spearfishers to investigate the increase in the abundance of five northward expanding indigenous thermophilic fish species in two subregions of the Mediterranean Sea: the Adriatic/Ionian Seas and the Tyrrhenian/Ligurian Seas. We used an online survey administered through Twitter and Facebook between 2017 and 2018 to both Italian and Croatian recreational fishers. A total of 794 respondents completed the questionnaire (386 from the Adriatic/Ionian subregion and 408 from the Tyrrhenian/Ligurian one). Overall, the species perceived as most increasing in abundance were Pomatomus saltatrix (71% of replies) followed by Sphyraena viridensis (58%). The rest of species (Coryphaena hippurus, Balistes capriscus and Sparisoma cretense) ranged between 17% and 25%. We showed that recreational fishers have a stable system of beliefs about meridionalization, which is perceived homogeneously between recreational anglers and spearfishers. Moreover, our results indicate that latitude is negatively correlated with meridionalization in the Adriatic/Ionian, but not in the Thyrrenian/Ligurian Seas, suggesting that meridionalization of the Adriatic/Ionian Seas could be a process that is temporally lagged with respect to the Tyrrhenian/Ligurian Seas. Our study demonstrate that LEK of specific target groups such as recreational fishers can be easily accessed on large geographical scale and it can be useful to identify those fish species who are regarded as indicators of climate change.

The circadian system is phylogenetically conserved across a wide range of taxa. It orchestrates organismal biological processes and is linked to life history and risk-taking behavior. Fisheries-induced evolution affects life history and may also alter behavioral traits in exploited populations. Thus, intensive and selective harvesting may lead to the evolution of the circadian system and thereby affect temporal organization of physiological processes. We present experimental results based on zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) selection lines exposed to either large or small size-selective mortality relative to a control, simulating evolutionary responses to intensive fishing. We show that size-selective harvest leads to evolution of life-history, risk-taking and shoaling behaviors, and importantly, also shifts the molecular circadian clockwork. Evolutionary effects of size-selective harvesting on risk-taking and shoaling were linked to daily activity rhythms in the small, but not in the large, size-selective mortality scenario. Both small and large size-selective mortality induced an evolutionary shift of the molecular circadian clockwork in the same direction in the brain and liver. Interestingly, the shifts in the molecular circadian clockwork disappeared in the clock output pathway, resulting in similar transcription profile among size-selective scenarios. We reveal that size-selective harvesting not only alters life-histories, but also leaves an evolutionary legacy in the behavioral and physiological machinery of exploited fish populations. These changes can affect catchability, yield, recovery and the way exploited fish population use space and time and maybe difficult to be reversed even when harvesting is halted. Significance statement Harvesting constitutes a strong driver of life history evolution in wild populations, but there is limited knowledge whether harvesting also leads to adaptive changes in the underlying physiology and behavior of exploited populations. We use a multi-generation zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) harvesting experiment simulating two different fisheries scenarios and we show that size-selective mortality affect the circadian system and collective fish personality traits. Such adaptations were present eight generations after size-selective harvesting was stopped, indicating induced evolution of the circadian system and behavioural traits in response to size-selective harvesting.

In fisheries worldwide, larger fish are subjected to substantially greater fishing mortality than smaller fish. Body length and behavioral traits are often correlated, such that fisheries-induced changes in either behaviour or morphology can also alter other traits as result of direct or indirect selection. Consistent behavioral differences among individuals, known as personality traits, provide the proximate framework by which selection can act; however, empirical evidence regarding how size-selective harvesting alters mean personality traits in exploited stocks is scarce. We examined three experimental lines of zebrafish (Danio rerio) that were exposed to positive, negative or random size-selective harvest over five generations to investigate whether simulated fishing changed the mean personality of the survivors five generations after harvesting was halted. We found that females mean boldness (defined as risk-taking tendency), activity and sociability were significantly altered relative to a randomly harvested line; however, harvest-induced changes in personality were only detected in the negatively size-selected line, in which 75% of the smallest fishes were harvested. By contrast, we did not find evidence for harvest-induced evolution of personality in the positively size-selected line, in which 75% of the largest fishes were harvested. We conclude that size-selective harvesting alters individual fish personality in a social fish.

The role of sexual selection in the context of harvest‐induced evolution is poorly understood. However, elevated and trait‐selective harvesting of wild populations may change sexually selected traits, which in turn can affect mate choice and reproduction. We experimentally evaluated the potential for fisheries‐induced evolution of mating behaviour and reproductive allocation in fish. We used an experimental system of zebrafish (Danio rerio) lines exposed to large, small or random (i.e. control) size‐selective mortality. The large‐harvested line represented a treatment simulating the typical case in fisheries where the largest individuals are preferentially harvested. We used a full factorial design of spawning trials with size‐matched individuals to control for the systematic impact of body size during reproduction, thereby singling out possible changes in mating behaviour and reproductive allocation. Both small size‐selective mortality and large size‐selective mortality left a legacy on male mating behaviour by elevating intersexual aggression. However, there was no evidence for line‐assortative reproductive allocation. Females of all lines preferentially allocated eggs to the generally less aggressive males of the random‐harvested control line. Females of the large‐harvested line showed enhanced reproductive performance, and males of the large‐harvested line had the highest egg fertilization rate among all males. These findings can be explained as an evolutionary adaptation by which individuals of the large‐harvested line display an enhanced reproductive performance early in life to offset the increased probability of adult mortality due to harvest. Our results suggest that the large‐harvested line evolved behaviourally mediated reproductive adaptations that could increase the rate of recovery when populations adapted to high fishing pressure come into secondary contact with other populations. peerReviewed

We present a protocol related to a video-tracking technique based on the background subtraction and image thresholding that makes it possible to individually track cohoused animals. We tested the tracking routine with four cohoused Norway lobsters (Nephrops norvegicus) under light-darkness conditions for 5 days. The lobsters had been individually tagged. The experimental setup and the tracking techniques used are entirely based on the open source software. The comparison of the tracking output with a manual detection indicates that the lobsters were correctly detected 69% of the times. Among the correctly detected lobsters, their individual tags were correctly identified 89.5% of the times. Considering the frame rate used in the protocol and the movement rate of lobsters, the performance of the video tracking has a good quality, and the representative results support the validity of the protocol in producing valuable data for research needs (individual space occupancy or locomotor activity patterns). The protocol presented here can be easily customized and is, hence, transferable to other species where the individual tracking of specimens in a group can be valuable for answering research questions, This work was supported by the RITFIM project (CTM2010-16274; principal investigator: J. Aguzzi) founded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN), and the TIN2015-66951-C2-2-R grant from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness

Annual Meeting Society for Experimental Biology (SEB Florence 2018), 3-6 July 2018, Florence, Italy.-- 1 page, 3 figures, Stability in linear dominance hierarchies can be characterized by their steepness (i.e., the size of the absolute differences between adjacently ranked individuals in the overall success in winning dominance encounters). The formation and maintenance of those hierarchies is characterized by a gradual polarization (increased steepness) of dominance ranks over time. Agonistic interactions are usually correlated to daily activity rhythms and both are controlled by light-entrained endogenous pacemakers (i.e., circadian clocks). Circadian clocks can be entrained by social cues, but the mechanisms controlling such synchronized clock networks are still not fully understood. The study of circadian clocks in animal groups organized in dominance hierarchies can provide insights on the general mechanisms governing such synchronization. The Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) develops lasting dominance relationships accompanied with rank related changes in burrowing behaviour. Here, we studied the emergence of dominance hierarchies in Nephrops using their locomotor activity as circadian clock output. Four lobsters were housed in a tank (150x75x30 cm) provided with 4 burrows for 6 days in 12-12 light-darkness conditions followed by 7 days of constant darkness, to study the endogenous properties of their circadian clocks. We used steepness to measure the stability of dominance hierarchies. Preliminary results indicated that after switching to constant darkness the stability of dominance hierarchy decreased but the rank position of lobster was maintained. Such results suggested that light-darkness is not a fundamental requirement for establishing and maintaining dominance relationships, however it is important to have robust stability in the dominance hierarchies

Species distribution of blast hits. (DOCX 93Â kb)

PCA of sex-biased genes. (PDF 8Â kb)

Gel results of validated sex-specific transcripts. (PDF 506Â kb)

Species distribution of blast hits. (DOCX 93Â kb)

Gel results of validated sex-specific transcripts. (PDF 506Â kb)

PCA of sex-biased genes. (PDF 8Â kb)

10 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, Automated video and image analysis can be a very efficient tool to behavior study, especially in hard access environments for researchers. The understanding of this social behavior can play a key role in the sustainable design of control policies of many species. This paper proposes the use of computer vision algorithms to identify and track, the Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus, a burrowing decapod with relevant commercial value which is captured by trawling. These animals can only be captured when are engaged in seabed excursions, which are strongly related with their social behavior. This emergent behavior is modulated by the day-night cycle, but social interactions remain unknown to the scientific community. The paper introduces an identification scheme made of four distinguishable black and white tags (geometric shapes). The project has recorded 15-day experiments in laboratory, under monochromatic blue light (472 nm.) and darkness conditions (recorded using Infra Red light). Using this massive image set, we propose a comparative of state-of-the-art computer vision algorithms to distinguish and track the different animals' movements. We evaluate the robustness to the high noise presence in the infrared video signals and free out-of-plane rotations due to animal movement. The experiments show promising accuracies under a cross-validation protocol, being adaptable to the automation and analysis of large scale data. In a second contribution, we created an extensive dataset of shapes (46027 different shapes) from four daily experimental video recordings, which will be available to the community, Research supported by TIN2012-38187-C03-02 grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education Culture and Sports and TIN2015-66951-C2-2-R (MINECO/FEDER) grant from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. The data presented in this work were obtained during the RITFIM project (CTM2010-16274), which was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN)

The Spearfishing Association of Barcelona (APS) recently celebrated its 70th anniversary and decided to write a manifesto called: “The Barcelona Agreement: A Manifesto Towards the Spearfishing of the Future”. The Manifesto was discussed and approved during a round table at the Maritime Museum of Barcelona on 27 February 2016, in which delegates of several stakeholders took part. The Agreement is a revision of the most important points that the authors consider to be fundamental for a sustainable development of spearfishing in the future. The authors expect that this manifesto will be a starting point for a constructive discussion to increase knowledge, efficient practice and effective management of spearfishing., En motivo de la celebración de su 70 aniversario, la Asociación de Pesca Submarina de Barcelona (APS) decidió escribir un manifiesto llamado: “La carta de Barcelona: un manifiesto hacia la pesca submarina del futuro”. El contenido fue discutido y aprobado el 27 de febrero de 2016 durante una mesa redonda organizada en el Museo Marítimo de Barcelona y en la que participaron delegados de distintos grupos de interés. El manifiesto es una revisión de los puntos que, según los autores, son fundamentales por un desarrollo sostenible de la pesca submarina en el futuro. Finalmente, los autores pretenden que este manifiesto sea un punto de partida para una discusión constructiva sobre el conocimiento, la práctica eficiente y la gestión efectiva de la pesca submarina.

The abundance and composition of fish assemblages varies at different temporal scales as a product of diel and annual rhythms. In this study, we used a video-wired observatory (OBSEA, www.obsea.es) to monitor annual rhythms in a coastal fish assemblage with a 3-year data set (2012-2014). The photographs were acquired at 30 min frequency. Five species of the family Sparidae were studied (i.e. Dentex dentex, Diplodus sargus, Diplodus vulgaris, Diplodus annularis and Diplodus puntazzo) together with water temperature and daylength. The results of the annual rhythmicity analysis indicated that most of the peaks of abundance occured in the autumn months. Results suggest differentially temporal use of the reproductive or trophic niche.

Cabled observatories offer new opportunities to monitor species abundances at frequencies and durations never attained before. When nodes bear cameras, these may be transformed into the first sensor capable of quantifying biological activities at individual, populational, species, and community levels, if automation image processing can be sufficiently implemented. Here, we developed a binary classifier for the fish automated recognition based on Genetic Programming tested on the images provided by OBSEA EMSO testing site platform located at 20 m of depth off Vilanova i la Gertrú (Spain). The performance evaluation of the automatic classifier resulted in a 78% of accuracy compared with the manual counting. Considering the huge dimension of data provided by cabled observatories and the difficulty of manual processing, we consider this result highly promising also in view of future implementation of the methodology to increase the accuracy.

Coco, S. ... et al.-- 7th International Workshop on Marine Technology – Martech Workshop 2016, 26-28 October 2016, Barcelona.-- 2 pages, 1 figure,1 table, The abundance and composition of fish assemblages varies at different temporal scales as a product of diel and annual rhythms. In this study, we used a video-wired observatory (OBSEA, www.obsea.es) to monitor annual rhythms in a coastal fish assemblage with a 3-year data set (2012-2014). The photographs were acquired at 30 min frequency. Five species of the family Sparidae were studied (i.e. Dentex dentex, Diplodus sargus, Diplodus vulgaris, Diplodus annularis and Diplodus puntazzo) together with water temperature and daylength. The results of the annual rhythmicity analysis indicated that most of the peaks of abundance occured in the autumn months. Results suggest differentially temporal use of the reproductive or trophic niche

7th International Workshop on Marine Technology – Martech Workshop 2016, 26-28 October 2016, Barcelona.-- 3 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, Cabled observatories offer new opportunities to monitor species abundances at frequencies and durations never attained before. When nodes bear cameras, these may be transformed into the first sensor capable of quantifying biological activities at individual, populational, species, and community levels, if automation image processing can be sufficiently implemented. Here, we developed a binary classifier for the fish automated recognition based on Genetic Programming tested on the images provided by OBSEA EMSO testing site platform located at 20 m of depth off Vilanova i la Gertrú (Spain). The performance evaluation of the automatic classifier resulted in a 78% of accuracy compared with the manual counting. Considering the huge dimension of data provided by cabled observatories and the difficulty of manual processing, we consider this result highly promising also in view of future implementation of the methodology to increase the accuracy

Leocádio, Ana ... et al.-- Final report of the Working Group on Nephrops Surveys (WGNEPS), 10-13 November 2015, Cadiz, Spain.-- 56 pages, 4 annexes

Nephrops norvegicus is an important fishery resource for Europe. Its rhythmic burrowing behavior is strictly related to catchability. Here I studied such behavior under laboratory conditions. I investigated the combined effect of light and current cycles demonstrating that tidal current is an important parameter to take in account in fishery management plan not only for Nephrops. Then I used a transcriptomics and RT-qPCR approach on cDNA extracted from the eyestalk to elucidate the putative molecular genetics mechanisms underlying circadian gene regulation. My data are in accordance with the current knowledge of the crustacean circadian clock, reinforcing the idea that the molecular clockwork of this group shows some differences with the established model in Drosophila melanogaster. Finally, I studied the burrow emergence behavior in group of 4 lobsters organized in dominance hierarchy demonstrating that lower ranks are more vulnerable to trawling. I hypothesized common neural mechanisms for agonistic and non-agonistic behaviors., Nephrops norvegicus es un importante recurso pesquero. La emergencia rítmica de la madriguera afecta las capturas. He estudiado dicho comportamiento en laboratorio investigando el efecto de ciclos lumínicos y de corrientes, demostrando que las mareas son un factor importante para gestionar el recurso. Mediante la técnica de secuenciación masiva y PCR en tiempo real sobre cDNA procedente del pedúnculo ocular, he elucidado el presunto mecanismo molecular que hay detrás de la regulación circadiana. Los resultados están de acuerdo con el conocimiento actual de los relojes biológicos en crustáceos, reforzando la idea que el proceso molecular de este grupo muestra algunas diferencias respecto el modelo consolidado de Drosophila melanogaster. Finalmente, he estudiado el comportamiento de emergencia en grupos de 4 cigalas organizadas en una jerarquía de dominancia, demostrando que los rangos más bajos son más vulnerables a la captura. Además he supuesto la existencia de mecanismos neuronales comunes entre comportamiento agonístico y non agonístico.

Big Biology and Bioinformatics Symposium (B3 2014), 24-25 November 2014, Brisbane, The Norway lobster Nephrops norvegicus fishery is one of the most valuable fisheries in Europe and has long been closely monitored by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). Norway lobster is distributed widely throughout European coastal waters (Atlantic and Mediterranean) but over the last 20 years catches have declined by 30%. Increasing knowledge on reproduction will be required to develop appropriate fisheries management tools to promote sustainable exploitation, This project was funded by the European Community DeNuGReC IRSES project

The Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus, can be captured by haul nets only during the emergence from its burrow. In the last few decades, an extensive field research revealed distinct diel (24-h–based) catchability patterns at different depths. Laboratory experiments suggested that burrow emergence (used as a proxy of catchability) is endogenously controlled via a circadian system. Results were usually presented in terms of mean effects without a quantification of inter-individual variability and arrhythmia. Here, we studied the burrow emergence of 52 adult Nephrops by an infrared actograph endowed with an artificial burrow. Animals were exposed to 12-12 h light-darkness cycle, simulating photic condition of the lower shelf. Forty-five animals showed rhythmic emergence (87%), while seven were arrhythmic (13%). Rhythmic animals were clustered according to their timing of emergence: 54% at dusk and 4% at dawn. Moreover, other animals showed fully diurnal or nocturnal emergence (10% and 19%, respectively). The comparison of our results with those derived from temporally scheduled trawling indicates that bimodal catch patterns observed in shelf populations are poorly observed during individual experiments in the laboratory, where the same light conditions are simulated. Nephrops burrow emergence seems to be the result of a mixed endogenous-exogenous control, while arrhythmia could also be present in the wild., La cigala, Nephrops norvegicus, es capturada con arte de arrastre cuando emerge de su madriguera. En las últimas décadas, una extensa investigación de campo ha revelado distintos patrones diarios (24-h) de capturas en diferentes profundidades. Se ha observado en experimentos de laboratorio que la emergencia desde la madriguera (interpretable como capturabilidad), está bajo el control endógeno de un sistema circadiano. En estos estudios los resultados se han presentado como efecto promedio en la población experimental, sin una cuantificación de la variabilidad inter individual o del porcentaje de arritmicidad. En este trabajo se estudió la actividad de emergencia desde la madriguera de Nephrops en 52 animales mediante un actógrafo de infrarrojos en un tanque dotado de una madriguera artificial, con un fotoperiodo de 12-12 luz-oscuridad, a fin de simular las condiciones fóticas de la plataforma marina. Cuarenta y cinco animales mostraron una emergencia rítmica (87%), mientras que siete fueron arrítmicos (13%). Los animales rítmicos fueron agrupados de acuerdo al momento de emergencia: 54% al “atardecer” y 4% al “amanecer”, mientras que otros mostraron una emergencia totalmente diurna o nocturna (10% y 19%, respectivamente). La comparación de nuestros resultados con los datos procedentes de pescas experimentales de arrastre, indica que los patrones bimodales de captura observados en poblaciones de la plataforma, son pobremente reproducidos en laboratorio, donde se simulan las mismas condiciones fóticas del fondo marino. La emergencia de Nephrops desde la madriguera parece estar controlada por un proceso tanto endógeno como exógeno, mientras que la arritmicidad podría ser observada también en el campo.

2013 IEEE International Underwater Technology Symposium (UT), 5-8 March 2013, Tokyo.-- 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 table.-- © 2013 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works, Seasonality in marine fish communities is usually studied by using different sampling techniques (e.g. visual census in shallow water or trawling in deeper areas) that are hard to perform over long periods with a high frequency of data recording. Furthermore, the coupling with fluctuations in key habitat parameters (e.g. light, temperature, salinity, and turbidity) is not a simple task to accomplish. Cabled video-observatories implemented with multiparametric sensors for habitat monitoring are allowing for the first time the continuous and long term recording of marine communities' dynamic (e.g. day-night, seasonal, and predator-prey fluctuations). In this scenario, the OBSEA video-cabled observatory has been recently deployed (2009) within a coastal area in the western Mediterranean Sea (Vilanova i la Geltrú - Spain) at a depth of 20 m. It is endowed with a video camera and a CTD. The OBSEA is located in a sandy area in which are placed numerous artificial reefs that protect the ground from trawling. The OBSEA is placed in front of one of these reefs. Accordingly, we report here only the preliminary results of this study consisting of one month videomonitoring at 30 min frequency of the local fish community in association with environmental fluctuations. In the future this analysis will cover an entire year. Waveform analysis was carried out in order to detect the occurrence of significant daily periodicity in species abundance, while time series of community fluctuations were related to environmental parameters (temperature and pressure at the sea bottom). In both cases particular attention was directed to interacting species such as predators and preys. Preliminary results highlight how cabled observatories could contribute to study community's dynamic. Finally, the analysis of the entire year observations will allow to study changes of the artificial reef community among different seasons. Moreover, the long term data from OBSEA could permit to evaluate possible climate changes effects on the local fish community, This research was funded by ESONET (European Seas Observatory NETwork; Framework Program-FP7 Infrastructures-2005-Global-4, ESONET 036851-2), EMSO (European Multidisciplinary Seafloor Observation; Framework Program-FP7 Infraestructures-2007-1, Proposal 211816), RITFIM (CTM2010-16274), and ACI2009-0983 (Operatividad laboratorio Submarino OBSEA). [...] VS is a Predoctoral Fellow within the Formation Personal Investigador (FPI) scheme (MICINN). JA is a Ramón y Cajal Program (MICINN) Postdoctoral Fellow

40th CIESM Congress: The largest Forum on Mediterranean and Black Sea Research, 28 October - 1 November 2013, Marseille, France.-- 1 page, 1 figure, The Norway lobster is a burrowing decapod of elevated commercial importance for the European fishery. Understand which factors affect its diel (24-h based) catchability is of importance for its stock assessment. Here we presented preliminary results on burrow emergence modulation on lobsters exposed to water flow cycles in the laboratory simulating internal tides

13th International Deep-Sea Biology Symposium, 3-7 December 2012, Wellington, New Zealand

The Crustacean Society Summer Meeting (TCSSM) - 10th Colloquium Crustacea Decapoda Mediterranea (CCDM), 3-7 June 2012, Athens, Greece, Nowadays, the emergency behavior of the Norway lobster Nephrops norvegicus (L.) in relation to inertial tides is unknown. Studying the influence of this variable represents a technological challenge, when the control of hydrodynamism has to be set in laboratory controlled conditions. Here, we present a novel video-actographic system capable of recreating water currents and light conditions in individualized mini-flow cells hosting a single burrow

RFID is an innovative information technology that potentially allows attaining massive amounts of data. It can be used for traceability of goods trough the different stages of the production chain, as well as in behavioural sciences to track different animals within a group. In this work we provide two examples related to commercial and behavioural study sectors. We firstly applied RFID technology to edible goods supply chain. That application consisted in using tags along the high commercial value supply-chain of fresh fish. The second application consisted in the tracking of behavioural locomotor activity in commercially important crustaceans. In the laboratory, a microcosm tank was endowed with set of RFID controllers below it, each handling group readers in order to contemporarily track four Norway lobsters (Nephrops norvegicus).

The purpose of this work is to study and evaluate the limitations of using acoustic communications in the vicinity of artificial reefs. By placing hydrophones and transmitters in different strategic locations we have studied the performance of this technology in confined spaces. The ultimate goal of this work is to provide information for the proper design of acoustic communication systems to monitor species in artificial reefs.

Fourth International Workshop on Marine Technology (MARTECH 2011), 22-23 september 2011, Cádiz.-- 1 page, 1 figure, 1 table, On this work, the performance, configuration and limitations in the field of an acoustic communication system to monitor marine species in artificial reefs has been studied and analyzed. The system described is composed by different hydrophones and acoustic transponders., We want to acknowledge the financial support of the Ministerio de Ciencia y Educación of Spain, through the project "Sistemas Inalámbricos para la Exensión de Observatorios Submarinos" CTM2010-15459 (Subprograma MAR). Jacopo Aguzzi is a Fellow of the Ramón y Cajal Scheme (MICINN)

Trabajo final presentado por Valerio Sbragaglia para el Máster de Acuicultura impartido por la Universitat de Barcelona (UB), la Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) y la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), realizado bajo la dirección del Dr. Jacopo Aguzzi y el Dr. José Antonio García del Arco del Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC).-- 20 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables, Nephrops norvegicus represents one of the most important commercial species for EU trawling fisheries. I investigated the existence of different rhythmic behavioural patterns in 52 Nephrops with an innovative actographic method that is able to discriminate 3 geo-referenced components of burrow emergence activity. Recognized patterns were correlated with sex and carapace length and obtained results were extrapolated to the field. The experimental conditions were: 12-12 LD cycle; monochromatic blue (480-nm) light intensity (0.1 lx). The methodological approach produced good time series of locomotor data, since arrhythmic animals are few (8%). Results indicated that Nephrops possesses an unexpected plastic exogenous behavioural rhythm, subdivided into 3 categories related to burrow influence (i.e. Burrow-centred, 60%; Burrow-oriented, 17%; Poorly burrow-oriented, 15%). Sex and carapace length did not influence the expression of reported rhythmic behavioural patterns, but we individuated some differences in overall locomotor activity among sexes. Nephrops should be considered a good model to investigate rhythmic behavioural patterns of deep-sea crustacean decapods. That investigation revealed its potentiality in aquaculture practice (feeding, reproduction and manipulation) and fishery assessment (extrapolation of laboratory data to the Nephrops stock management)

Trabajo presentado en el MARTECH 2011 Fourth International Workshop on Marine Technology, celbrado en Cádiz el 22 y 23 de septiembre de 2011.-- Costa, Corrado ... et al.-- 1 page, RFID is an innovative information technology that allows the ability to attain massive amounts of data. It can be used for traceability of good trough the different production stages as well as in behavioural sciences to identify different animals within a group. In this work we summarized two different sectors where this system could be developed. The first concerning the application of such technology to fresh fish supply chain, the second concern a laboratory application for the study of behaviour in laboratory held crustaceans of commercial importance (i.e. the Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus). The presented application of RFID to fresh fish supply chain consisted in the application of RFID tags along the fresh fish supply-chain of high commercial value. In the laboratory, a system of distributed architecture made by a microcosm tank with set of RFID controllers below it, each handling a group of seven readers in order to contemporarily portrait the behaviour of up to four individuals

RT-PCR primers for sex-specific transcripts and housekeeping genes. CTL: Venom c-type lectin mannose binding; EF 1-a: Elongation factor 1- a; GAPDH: Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase; MBP: Mannose-binding protein; MEP: Meprin; MAPK: Dual specificity mitogen-activated protein kinase; MPO: Meloxyperoxidase; SLO: Slowpoke potassium channel family; STPK: Serine threonine protein kinase; Vg: Vitellogenin, VgR: Vitellogenin receptor; VWF: Von Willebrand factor. (DOCX 15Â kb)

RT-PCR primers for sex-specific transcripts and housekeeping genes. CTL: Venom c-type lectin mannose binding; EF 1-a: Elongation factor 1- a; GAPDH: Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase; MBP: Mannose-binding protein; MEP: Meprin; MAPK: Dual specificity mitogen-activated protein kinase; MPO: Meloxyperoxidase; SLO: Slowpoke potassium channel family; STPK: Serine threonine protein kinase; Vg: Vitellogenin, VgR: Vitellogenin receptor; VWF: Von Willebrand factor. (DOCX 15Â kb)

Trabajo final presentado por Lucía Espasandin Soneira para el Máster en Oceanografía y Gestión del Medio Marino impartido por la Universitat de Barcelona (UB), realizado bajo la dirección la Dra Marta Coll Monton y del Dr. Valerio Sbragaglia del Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC).-- 25 pages, 6 figures, One of the most important ecological impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems is the distributional range-shift of species. Understanding the social implications of this phenomenon is crucial for managers and policy makers in order to adapt fisheries management and resource conservation. In this paper we investigate the social dimension of recreational fishing in the context of an ongoing distribution range-shift of a target species. Specifically, we mined data on YouTube about recreational anglers and spearfishers targeting the white grouper (Epinephelus aeneus), which is a species expanding northwards in the North-western Mediterranean Sea. We retrieved a total of 453 videos. Results showed that at least in Italy social engagement is higher for spearfishers than anglers. In general, we documented an overall positive polarity of comments in both Italy and Spain, but specific negative emotions such as fear, disgust or anger were more common for angling videos in Italy. Interestingly, we detected a positive correlation between joy and latitude, which means that videos from higher latitude where the white grouper can be still considered a rare species triggered more joy than at lower latitude where this species is more common. Our study demonstrated that social media data can track the social dimension of ongoing distributional range shift and, above all, offer a real time tool for adaptive management

Sbragaglia, Valerio ... et al.-- 11 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, supplementary information https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-37954-0, The seasonal timing of recurring biological processes is essential for organisms living in temperate regions. While ample knowledge of these processes exists for terrestrial environments, seasonal timing in the marine environment is relatively understudied. Here, we characterized the annual rhythm of habitat use in six fish species belonging to the Sparidae family, highlighting the main environmental variables that correlate to such rhythms. The study was conducted at a coastal artificial reef through a cabled observatory system, which allowed gathering underwater time-lapse images every 30 minutes consecutively over 3 years. Rhythms of fish counts had a significant annual periodicity in four out of the six studied species. Species-specific temporal patterns were found, demonstrating a clear annual temporal niche partitioning within the studied family. Temperature was the most important environmental variable correlated with fish counts in the proximity of the artificial reef, while daily photoperiod and salinity were not important. In a scenario of human-induced rapid environmental change, tracking phenological shifts may provide key indications about the effects of climate change at both species and ecosystem level. Our study reinforces the efficacy of underwater cabled video-observatories as a reliable tool for long-term monitoring of phenological events, VS was supported by a Leibniz-DAAD postdoctoral research fellowship (n. 91632699). [...] This work was partially funded within the framework of the RESBIO project (REdes de Sensores submarinos autónomos y cableados aplicados a la monitorización remota de indicadores BIOlógicos; Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología, MINISTERIO DE ECONOMÍA, INDUSTRIA Y COMPETITIVIDAD, RETOS 2017) under TEC2017-87861-R contract. The Research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2013-2017) under the grant agreement n◦ 312463, FixO3, through the TNA project FISHAUT (grant agreement n◦ FC-01) for accessing the OBSEA data